


Forelsket, Forelsket

by jetreadsstuff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Art Student AU, College AU, F/F, Fake Dating, Fake Relationship, Fluff, Meet the Family, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, allura and plaxum are TERRIBLE wingmen, liiiiil angst, mega fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:52:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetreadsstuff/pseuds/jetreadsstuff
Summary: Shay needs a date for her brother's wedding, and fast. So her roommate, Nyma, offers to fake being her long term girlfriend for the week. The only problem? Nyma has been harboring an intense crush on Shay for two years. Will sparks fly or will things go awry? (both, knowing the writer)





	1. Of wedding bells and webs of lies

Shay, as any rational person would, threw her pillow on the floor and began vehemently shouting swears at it. Not exactly what Nyma was expecting to return to her dorm to, but Shay was friends with Hunk and Lance, so not the weirdest thing she had seen in this room. Still, she felt compelled to ask her roommate why exactly she was screaming on the floor, and if this was what she was like on a random Friday, what would midterms do to her?

“Hey?” Nyma greeted, though she hadn’t intended it to sound like a question. She set her keychain on the green nightstand next to her bed. 

“Hi,” Shay jerked her head up, hoping that Nyma hadn’t heard too much of her outburst.

“On a scale of your favorite show was just cancelled to you accidentally spilled coffee on your harshest professor, how bad is the thing you were screaming into your pillow about?” Nyma asked, sitting on the floor next to her. 

“Worse than both,” Shay sat up and leaned against her bed.

“Dude, what happened?” Nyma’s eyes grew wide.

“Uh…” Shay trailed off.

“What? Dude, come on, you can tell me,” Nyma cocked her head to the side.

“I feel a bit sheepish coming to you about it,” Shay admitted.

“We’ve been roommates for over two years now,” Nyma pointed out, “if we can’t trust each other, who can we trust?” 

“I mean, I do need to talk to someone, and I know that Allura would at least be a little judgemental,” Shay supposed.

“So what’s going on?” Nyma drummed her hands on her own legs.

“Well,” Shay sighed, “okay. My brother is getting married.”

“Is that...all?” Nyma asked.

“No, I just got myself into a bit of a situation in regards to his wedding,” Shay shifted to look at one of the many family photos on her collage, “see, he started dating this guy when I went off to school. And they were already friends, you know? Since freshman year of high school. So he already knew a lot about the family, and a lot about Rax. And when they got engaged, the jokes started.”

“The jokes?” Nyma raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah. Like, you know how Allura and I have been friends since we were kids?” 

“Yeah totally. I know the story. You were walking home from band practice and you tripped and your sousaphone went-”

“I do not have time to relive that shame right now, Nyma.”

“Sorry. It is a good story, though,” Nyma pointed out.  
“When they got engaged, my family would start saying things like ‘so when’s your and Allura’s wedding’ and ‘Kay jewelers is having a sale this month’ and besides the fact that I would never buy commercial diamonds, I know they mean well, and I love Allura, but I’m not...IN love with her.”

“I get it,” Nyma agreed.

“So I’m on the phone with my Gran and she says something along the lines of  ‘your invitation says Shay and guest, maybe you should see what Allura’s doing the week of the wedding,’ and I do not know what force beyond man made me say what I said next but I said ‘No, I’m bringing my girlfriend’,” Shay looked at Nyma with absolute unadulterated dread.

“What’d she say?”

“Well she got suspicious at first, asking how long I’ve had this girlfriend and I sort of said. I said uh, around seven months,” Shay lowered her head.

“Seven months?” Nyma’s eyes widened.

“Yes. Then she said this was the first she was hearing about it and I said we started dating the week that Rax and his fiance got engaged and I didn’t wanna steal his thunder.”

“What are you gonna do?” Nyma asked.

“I have to find someone to pretend to be my girlfriend and quickly, because I leave in just a few days,” Shay explained. 

“So ask one of your friends,” Nyma shrugged.

“Of all my friends, Hunk and Lance are boys, Pidge is only barely eighteen and that would be weird, and I can’t take Allura,” Shay bit her knuckles. Nervous habit, Nyma guessed.

“Could you ask a friendly classmate?”

“Friendly classmate is an oxymoron,” Shay groaned, standing up.

“Well…” Nyma trailed off. She couldn’t, she could not offer. It was a bad idea and she knew it and Plax would scold her the second she was informed.

“Well what?” Shay asked.

“How many days are you gonna be there?” 

“There’s a lot of prep work, and I don’t go to see my family much. So, a week, week and a half. Not counting the road trip,” Shay answered. Nyma supposed that wouldn’t be too many missed classes.

“Shay,” Nyma sighed, “I could be your date.”

“What?”

“I’ve lived with you for two years, so I know a lot about you, we’re friends, so we know we won’t kill each other, and I can get out of class for a few days and have extra time to finish my surrealist painting of a house made out of vhs tapes,” Nyma reasoned.

“I do suppose it is a more appealing option than just taking a classmate I barely know,” Shay admitted.

“Exactly,” Nyma smiled.

“Are you sure you don’t mind it?” Shay asked.

“Not at all,” Nyma assured her, “and you can trust that I’m telling the truth because of how brutally brunt I am.”

“Well that’s true,” Shay said, considering her words, “alright!”

“Nice! I’ll get my roadtrip CDs out of storage and tell my professors I have some kind of family emergency.”

Only one problem became apparent to their plan: Nyma had been pining for Shay. Hard. For at least since freshman year. But hey, what’s the worst that could happen?

* * *

Text log, March 26th, Nyma’s phone to Plaxum’s phone.

 

**You:Plax I am having an emergency**

 

_ Plax: Whose toilet did you clog _

 

**You: NOT THAT KIND OF EMERGENCY**

 

_ Plax: LISTEN. I am friends with Rolo. That first assumption is not invalid. _

 

**You: Did you miss the part where I said I have an emergency?**

 

_ Plax: And I have a huge project due on Monday. My sewing machine has clogged three times. _

 

**You: I’ll be quick, I promise.**

 

_ Plax: you have fifteen minutes while I walk to the student cafe and get a bag of chips. _

 

**You: Anyway as a favor I’m pretending to be Shay’s long term girlfriend for her brother’s wedding this week.**

 

_ Plax: THE SHAY YOU HAVE A HUGE CRUSH ON SHAY _

 

**You: yes, please type that in all caps so it’s likely to catch the eye of a passing student.**

 

_ Plax: I walk fast.  _

 

_ Now why the hell are you pretending to be Shay’s girlfriend? _

 

**You: Ugh, long story. She reeeeeally needed me to.**

 

_ Plax: I’m so sure. And this isn’t some plot to get her to fall madly in love with you? _

 

**You: Please, I’m not smart enough for that.**

 

_ Plax: Maybe not. Either way this is in the hall of fame of the worst ideas you’ve ever had or gone along with. _

 

**You: I know.**

 

**I need your help to survive it.**

_ Plax: I...Excuse me? _

 

**You: I would never ask you for this under any other circumstances, but I need you to have your phone handy at ALL times in case I have some sort of gay crisis.**

 

_ Plax: IN CASE???? _

 

**You: OKAY I am DEFINITELY gonna have a gay crisis. Give or take like five.**

 

_ Plax: Girl, you’re having a gay crisis AS WE SPEAK _

 

**You: PLAX**

 

_ Plax: Yeah okay FINE, this I will do for you. I will check it first thing in the morning, last thing at night, in all my classes, and I will keep the charger on me at all times.  _

 

**You: Thanks. Owe you one.**

 

_ Plax: You owe me SO MANY MORE than one. _

 

* * *

On the crisp Monday morning that followed that Saturday, Nyma dragged her tired, not as well dressed as she would have been had she slept in self to the courtyard parking lot in front of the dorm building. She lugged a suitcase the size of half her body that was overflowing. Shay was already there, standing in front of Nyma’s car.

“Morning!” Shay smiled, “I talked to everyone. They’re all so excited to meet you. There’s a couple of things I think we should go over before we get there, but other than that, are you ready?”

“I guess,” Nyma choked back a yawn, “why are you so damn chipper this early in the morning?”

“I’m always up this early,” Shay explained, opening the trunk.

“Fair enough,” Nyma crossed her arms.

“Would you like to drive first, since it’s your car, or would you prefer I did so you can rest a little more?” Shay asked, loading her luggage in the car.

“I’ve never been able to sleep in this car,” Nyma answered, taking the keys, “how long is this drive?”

“Westchester,” Shay answered, “to my family home.

“Shay. I grew up in Oregon,” Nyma pointed out.

“Oh! Twelve hours. Roughly. Then on Friday, it’s another two to the venue in Margaretville for the weekend,” Shay explained. Nyma audibly groaned.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have groaned in disgust. It’s just that long car rides aren’t really my favorite thing in the world,” Nyma forced a tired smile. 

“It’s okay! We can pass the time! I brought the audiobook for the first sisterhood of the travelling pants book for when it’s my turn to drive!” Shay said brightly. Nyma forced back another groan.

“Sounds great,” Nyma mumbled.

“I’m gonna go say goodbye to Allura and the guys. Do you think you’re okay for a few minutes?” Shay asked.

“Sure,” Nyma sighed. Shay walked away and Nyma felt this burning sensation in her throat. She sighed again and threw her suitcase recklessly in the trunk, hoping it wouldn’t pop open. She slid into the driver’s seat and banged her head on the steering wheel. One week. Two days worth of driving. Alone. With Shay. Pretending to be her girlfriend. Pretending like it wasn’t a big deal. She saw Shay coming back towards the car and she straightened her back, smiling.

“You can do this,” She assured herself, sticking the key in the ignition.


	2. Ground Rules

 

The car ride there was less of a teenage dream and more of a teenage nightmare. Well, only a teenage nightmare for Nyma, she supposed, because Shay had passed her 20th around a month ago. Anyway, the car ride was a disaster. Sisterhood of the traveling pants offered a lot of heart and cheap high school cliches, neither of which Nyma was into. Luckily she brought her ipod along and had stocked it with music to get her through the roadtrip. Unluckily, however, the playlist looped itself back through within two hours. She couldn’t change it because, well, she was driving and the car was a manual. Unless she wanted to die tragically in a car crash, it was Float on by modest mouse for the third time in a row.

“It’s been about six hours,” Shay said, setting down her knitting loom, “I think I should take over from here.” 

“Alright,” Nyma agreed, pulling into the next available gas station parking lot. She was looking forward to a much needed nap, though as previously mentioned, this car was impossible to sleep in.  But they switched, and it appeared that Shay had other plans regarding how to pass the time. 

“So,” Shay looked to Nyma as she buckled her seatbelt.

“So?” Nyma raised an eyebrow.

“I think we should develop some, I dunno, ground rules? Not sure that’s the right phrase, but we definitely need to go over some stuff,” Shay explained.

“Name an example,” Nyma told her.

“Alright, what about….well we’re definitely gonna have to share a bed,” Shay started. 

“Yeah?” Nyma’s voice cracked just a little. Had she still been driving, she would have for sure swerved off the road.

“Yes. I’ve gone over the logistics, and there’s no way one of us sleeping on the floor wouldn’t raise suspicion. My mom, well, love her dearly, she does not knock,” Shay continued. 

“So what sort of ground rules do we have to establish in regards to that?” Nyma attempted not to sound completely robotic.

“Well, maybe we could, I dunno, use a pillow as some kind of divider,” Shay shrugged.

“A pillow?” Nyma raised an eyebrow.

“It’s the best I could come up with!” Shay defended herself. It was barely noon and Nyma already knew it was going to be a long day. Well, longer than it already had been, anyway.

“No, no, it’s  a fine plan,” Nyma looked out the window. 

“Alright, I guess that was the easiest thing to go over anyway,” Shay tensed, “what about like, other forms of physical contact?”

“Name another example,” Nyma worried her lip.

“Hugging,” Shay said.

“We hug all the time. No big deal. Next.”

“Holding hands?”

“Holding hands, also fine,” Nyma waved her off. If the whole week was like this, it was gonna be a piece of cake. 

“Alright….” Shay looked down, “kissing?”

That’s when Nyma couldn’t act detached anymore. She hoped it wasn’t showing, how flustered she was.

“Kissing uh,” Nyma hesitated, “kissing where, exactly?”

“How do you mean?”

“Forehead, cheek, hands like they do in movies, or lips?” Nyma elaborated.

“All, I suppose?” Shay answered, though it sounded sort of doubtful. 

“Forehead is fine, I guess, cheek kisses are probably pretty much mandatory to sell the fantasy, I’m outlawing hand kisses on principle of being dorky, and uhh,” Nyma trailed off. Shay blinked slowly, “we should probably set a limit for lip kisses.”

“What kind of limit?” Shay seemed nervous. 

“Like uh, how many times are we supposed to kiss in order to make your parents believe we’re like, madly in love, or something,” Nyma was back to trying to find a balance between flustered and completely emotionally un-invested. 

“Once a day, I guess,” Shay shrugged, “whatever you’re comfortable with.

“As long as you’re comfortable, that sounds fine. Anything else we need to establish here?” Dear God she hoped not.

“I dunno. Can you think of anything?” Shay asked. Nyma shrugged, and Shay turned her full attention back to the sisterhood of the traveling pants audiobook, as they forgot to establish probably some of the most important things. They were idiots, that was for certain. 

* * *

 

They got to the house at around six o’clock. It was a really nice house, too, all painted blue with a white picket fence and the greenest grass she’d ever seen, with a dirt road and a bunch of cars parked behind the house. It was sort of in the middle of nowhere. Had Nyma not known better, she’d think she was brought here to be killed. 

“Shay!” two small children came from seemingly nowhere to climb on her. 

“Dahlia! River!” Shay grinned, “How are my favorite cousins?”

“Gran says you say that to all our cousins,” Dahlia rolled her eyes.

“Only so they don’t get jealous of my real favorite cousins,” Shay picked them both up. Nyma got sheepishly out of the car, and suddenly felt very much like she was stepping into a world that wasn’t her own. That feeling….would not fade away.

“It’s Shay’s giiiiirlfriend!” River shouted, escaping Shay’s grasp and sort of galloping towards Nyma at top speed. Dahlia quickly followed.

“Oh, hi,” Nyma tried to smile. 

“River, Dahlia, this is my girlfriend, Nyma,” Shay introduced, “Nyma, these are my two little best friends, River and Dahlia.”

“You didn’t tell me how pretty she was,” River gasped.

“Can I braid your hair?” Dahlia asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Nyma smiled. With that, Dahlia and River grabbed her by the wrist and began dragging her towards the house. Shay laughed and got both hers and Nyma’s luggage out of the car before Nyma could even protest.

When they got inside, Nyma’s nose was immediately overcome with the smell of home cooked food, and the college student forced to live on ramen for two years on end involuntarily began yearning to stuff her face. She didn’t, of course, because that would be rude. 

The house itself was not what Nyma was expecting, stone walls and hardwood floors and yellow lighting that offered a warm glow. But most of all what Nyma noticed was the photos all over the place, pretty much of everyone in Shay’s family. Step one was finding these people and learning their names. 

“Shay, is that you?” a voice from another room asked upon their entering. 

“Yeah, it’s me, Gran. Where are you?” Shay asked.

“In the kitchen. You and your lady friend, come and get some food. You must all be starving,” Gran commanded. And so the two of them headed for the kitchen, where more people than Nyma knew how to introduce herself to stood around the biggest table Nyma had ever seen in real life. A chorus of cheers erupted as the two entered, and the group swarmed around the “couple”.

“Now now, then, back off of them, they’ve had a long drive and we don’t want to treat them like a spectacle, do we?” Gran asked, pointing the people back to the table. Nyma wanted to personally thank Gran. The various Shay relatives sat back at the table, carefully leaving two spots open next to each other for Nyma and Shay.

“Can we ask questions now?” Someone asked impatiently as Nyma and Shay sat in their chairs. 

“Hang on just a second. If we’re gonna grill Shay’s poor girlfriend, we are going to do it right. We can go around the table introducing ourselves, and each of us only asks one question, or nobody gets any food except for the most recently arrived.” Gran instructed.

“Mom, don’t you think that’s a little-” A man tried to say.

“Don’t you dare try to boss me in my own home, Forrest,” Gran looked stern as she sat herself on the chair on the end, “I suppose I should go first. I’m Shay’s grandmother. You can call me Gran or the head of the house. The proper first question would be what is your name, dear?”

“Well, that’s an easy one,” Nyma sighed, “it’s Nyma.”

“What an unusual and pretty name,” Gran smiled, “alright, Felix, you go next.”

“Cool. I’m Shay’s dad’s youngest brother, Felix, Shay’s coolest uncle AND mom’s favorite. So, how did you guys meet?”

“We go to the same school, it was bound to happen eventually,” Nyma shrugged.

“Yeah, but, how did you MEET?” Felix repeated. Nyma guessed this was a question she could at least give a solid truthful answer to.

“Well,” Nyma looked to Shay, “her roommate was a total jerk. Shay talked to the RA and I guess there was nothing that the RA could do, cue Shay ranting to Allura while Allura’s girlfriend, Plax, was there, and Plax happened to have a friend whose roommate was only a temporary resident while she was going through orientation for a sorority. That friend was me.”

“I’m Shay’s aunt, Aspen, and that is SO sweet. Was it love at first sight?” she folded her hands.

“You could say that,” Nyma looked down, “when I heard that my best friend’s girlfriend’s best friend was having roommate troubles, I wanted to help. So we met at a coffee shop on campus with Plax, Allura and my other friends Keith and Florona, and when I saw her, I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I tried not to let that get in the way of me making a rational decision about whether she and I should live together. She was cool and sweet and funny anyway, so it all came out in the wash I guess.”

“I’m River, hi Nyma, we met already, what’s your favorite color?” River asked.

“Purple definitely,” Nyma answered.

“I’m Dakota, I’m Shay’s brother’s fiancee, and I guess I don’t really have a question,” Dakota looked like she would much rather fade into her chair than think of a good question.

“Hi, Nyma, you remember me from the time I visited Shay at univ,” Rax sheepishly waved.

“Oh, I remember. Shay’s brother who ate all my pop tarts and looked at me like i was nuts when I accused you of doing so. You also made me watch sports that weren’t hockey, a crime of it’s own,” Nyma added. The whole table laughed.

“I’m Lark, Shay’s Dad’s older brother, and Rhett, River, and Dahlia’s dad,” Lark introduced, “what are you majoring in at that university?”

“Oh! I’m majoring in dance,” Nyma answered. This wasn’t so bad!

“I’m Lark’s husband, Dallas. No questions, really. Uh, pass?”

It went on like that for a while, Shay’s Dad’s brothers Oliver and Reed, Reed’s wife Alex and their kids Rowan Douglas and Adam, and finally, Shay’s parents, who had the most parents interviewing their daughters girlfriend questions that only Nyma’s nightmares could cook up. 

“I’m Forrest, Shay’s dad. How serious are you and my daughter, exactly?” He looked stern, but not in a scary sort of way. Nyma squeezed Shay’s hand under the table as if to ask permission to wing it, and Shay nodded slightly.

“Well, I love her. I want to see her as happy as she can possibly be,” Nyma smiled at Shay. Shay just blinked in surprise. Forrest seemed happy with this answer. 

“I’m Shay’s mom,  Violet, and my question to you is what your first date was like?”

Nyma froze. She had to think fast. She always did, but this was different. She couldn’t con her way out of answering this. 

“She was uh,” Nyma hesitated, “she was really stressing out over testing, and it was the week of Halloween. I insisted that she come to this masquerade ball the Kappa Sigma Pi. And she didn’t have a costume, so she went shopping for sewing materials with Allura. She wouldn’t let me see it until it was finished, and I told her I’d meet her at the ball because she was still putting on finishing touches while I was out the door. When she got there, I felt like my heart had stopped. That’s when I knew I was in deep. In a room full of people, all I could look at was her. So I kissed her. And that was that,” Nyma smiled. The whole table was stunned, including Shay.

“How sweet, but let’s eat!” Gran decreed, breaking the silence.

* * *

 

After a long dinner full of people catching up on the last six months of their lives, the table started splitting off as people went to bed. First Gran, then Shay’s parents, then the kids, then the kids’ parents, until at last it was just Felix, Rax and Dakota, and Nyma and Shay. Rax and Felix seemed to be in a contest of who could stay up the latest on that first night. They were uncle and nephew, but Nyma caught the impression of a relationship closer to that of brothers. Finally Dakota dragged Rax off to their room and Felix’s tired eyes darted to the couch in the den across from the dining room. It was then that Shay said how tired she was and tugged Nyma’s sleeve.

The two of them wandered up the stairs to a room closest to the end of the hall. The room was pure Shay, all tiny sculptures and paintings and mannequins, a little bit of everything artsy. There were four pillows on the large bed at the center of the room, and the two were on the same page of using two of those as sort of a divider. 

“You’re pretty quick on your feet, you know?” Shay sat down on the bed.

“Yeah, have to be to bullshit my way through so many oral presentations and rehearsals,” Nyma pointed out.

“Or just to be a dancer in general,” Shay joked. Nyma snorted.

“Guess it’s just my college brain acting up,” Nyma shrugged.

“So, the masquerade ball?” Shay asked.

“Yeah, sorry about that. The best lies are just slight embellishments of the truth. That’s what Rolo tells me, anyway,” Nyma tossed her bag on the floor next to the window. 

“No, it was nice,” Shay said softly, “That would have been a really nice first date, had it happened the way you told it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it would have,” Nyma turned off the bedside lamp and faced away from Shay, ending the discussion there, “Goodnight.”

“Yeah, goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last I update! I'm having too much fun with this fic, i really, really am.


End file.
